Shelby County: 16-year-old girl, charged with murder, at risk for harm at Jail East

Teriyona Winton, 16, testifies about being held at a women's prison in Nasvhille. She is charged with killing 17-year-old Deago Brown in Memphis. Her lawyers said she was transferred to the Tennessee Prison for Women when she was 15.
The Commercial Appeal

A 16-year-old girl charged with murder is at risk for irreparable harm while jailed with adult women at Shelby County Jail East, county lawyers said in new court documents amid ongoing arguments over where to house the teen pretrial.

"The adult detainees are able to see (her), speak to (her) and create an ever-present, hostile environment," county attorneys Megan Smith and Bridgett Stigger wrote in a court filing.

Teriyona Winton, then 15, was transferred in September last year from Juvenile Court to Criminal Court to be tried as an adult. The Shelby County Sheriff's Office was to house her separate and removed from adults, but "all available housing units for females are being used to house adult women," Assistant Chief Kirk Fields said in an affidavit. Boys transferred for trial as adults are held in a separate unit at Jail East, but there is no such unit for girls.

Unable to find housing for her anywhere between Shelby County and Davidson County, Shelby County petitioned the adult court to transfer her to the Tennessee Department of Correction for "safekeeping."

Tennessee law allows transfer of inmates due to insufficient county jails. Judge Mark Ward granted the petition to transfer her to TDOC in October and she was held at the Tennessee Prison For Women in Nashville.

Held in isolation

The room where Teriyona Winton was housed at the Tennessee Prison For Women in Nashville.(Photo: File photo/Commerical Appeal)

Winton returned to Memphis in February for court hearings about how to appropriately house her pretrial. Her lawyers argued the conditions at the Nashville facility amounted to unconstitutional solitary confinement. Attorney Josh Spickler said Winton was held far away from her home in Shelby County under an adult maximum security protocol.

Winton testified she was confined to her cell except for showers, recreation and gym. Her educational instruction was held through a slot in her door.

During the hearings last month, the judge asked Winton and her lawyers which of the two facilities she would rather choose — Jail East or the women's prison. Ward said the women's prison in Nashville appeared to be safer with better living conditions and quality of life, such as a television in her room. But the judge did not get a direct answer on where she wanted to go. Ultimately she was ordered to stay in the custody of the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, which her lawyer had asked for earlier in the proceedings.

Deago Brown at the Carpenter Art Garden a week before he was shot and killed in Binghamton.(Photo: Photo submitted by Erin Harris)

Winton is charged in the April 3 shooting death of Deago Brown in the 300 block of Tillman Street. The Shelby County District Attorney's office said that, according to investigators, Winton is accused of walking up to the victim outside a grocery store and shooting the 17-year-old once in the head.

According to court records, she said in an interview with police that a 27-year-old man asked her to kill Brown, put a gun in her hand and said "don't miss."

Potential loss of accreditation

In court documents, county lawyers continue to argue the Nashville prison facility offers a better environment for Winton.

"Every moment she is required to stay in (Shelby County's) detention facilities, (she) is placed in a situation of potentially being irreparably harmed ... " the county said. "Ms. Winton is currently housed in the Special Management Housing Unit of Jail East next to and across from adult detainees, fully capable of communicating with or being communicated to by adult detainees. This is impermissible."

State and federal regulations prohibit sight and sound contact between Winton and adult inmates, and the county said it could be at risk of losing certification that allows it to operate its own training academy for corrections personnel.

"It would be cost-prohibitive to send recruits and current employees to another location for training," the county said.

'Countless hours'

On Wednesday, Winton's lawyer argued for housing her at the detention facility in Memphis at Juvenile Court, saying that "the law allows for it, and it should be the most suitable facility in the county."

"Shelby County is committing countless hours toward the singular goal of sending a 16-year old girl to solitary confinement in a women’s prison 200 miles away," Spickler said. "This is the only solution according to their arguments and pleadings in court. Shelby County is a diverse, resilient, and creative community, and we are capable of finding solutions through thoughtful, difficult work and dedication. We can and must find a better solution. We are better than this."

Ward, the adult criminal court judge, said in a previous court order that he could not transfer Winton to a juvenile facility according to state statute.

"(The adult criminal court) has no power, authority or jurisdiction to order a child transferred from juvenile court detained in a juvenile detention facility," he wrote.

In a statement Wednesday, the sheriff's office said it is working with the juvenile court judge and county mayor to find a facility where all Shelby County youth can be housed safely.